Alexander Frolov
| birth_place = Moscow, USSR | draft = 20th overall | draft_year = 2000 | draft_team = Los Angeles Kings | career_start = 1999 }} Alexander Alexandrovich Frolov (born on June 19, 1982) is a Russian professional player who currently plays for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Frolov was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, 20th overall, in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He had been playing in Russia's third-tier hockey league with Lokomotiv-2 Yaroslavl, then stayed in Russia for two more seasons, moving up to the second-tier Russian Supreme League (RSL) and first-tier Russian Super League (RSL) with Krylya Sovetov Moscow. Signed to a three-year contract with the Kings in July 2002, Frolov made his NHL debut in 2002 for the Kings, scoring his first NHL goal, a game-winner, in his seventh game on October 25, against Mike Richter of the New York Rangers. Frolov finished his rookie season with 14 goals and 31 points. After improving to a team-high 24 goals and 48 points the following season, Frolov returned to the Russian Super League in 2004–05 due to the NHL lockout. He began the season with CSKA Moscow and finished second in team scoring to Nikolai Zherdev despite completing the campaign with Dynamo Moscow. Frolov became a restricted free agent before the 2005–06 NHL season and after turning down a three-year deal, he signed a longer term five-year, $14.5 million contract in August 2005. In the first year of his new contract, he scored his first NHL hat trick on November 13, 2005, in an 8–2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Later that season, Frolov was named to Russia's 2006 Winter Olympic team in Torino and suffered a partially separated shoulder. He missed approximately a month with the Kings when he returned, but still managed a 54-point season in 69 games. In 2006–07, Frolov continued to improve and recorded a career-high 35 goals and 71 points, second in team point-scoring to Mike Cammalleri. He finished second in team-scoring for the second consecutive year to Anze Kopitar in 2007–08 with 67 points, despite missing 11 games due to a groin injury suffered in November. International play Frolov represented Russia on two occasions as a junior at the 2000 World Junior U18 Championships in Switzerland and 2001 World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic, where he earned a gold medal. He scored a goal in the 5-4 gold medal game victory over Team Canada and finished with a team-high 6 goals and 8 points in 7 games. After completing his rookie season with the Los Angeles Kings, Frolov debuted at the senior level with Russia at the 2003 World Championships and scored 5 points as Russia failed to medal. He made his second World Championships appearance in 2007, tallying an international personal best 11 points in 9 games. Playing as the host nation, Russia earned bronze defeating Sweden 3–1 in the bronze medal game. Frolov also competed in the 2004 World Cup where he managed 2 assists in 4 games. He was selected to his first Winter Olympics for the 2006 Olympics in Torino. However, Frolov was injured early in the tournament, suffering a partially separated shoulder in a round-robin gamea against Kazakhstan. He missed the remainder of Russia's games as they were defeated 3–0 by Finland in the semi-final game. Career statistics External links * * * Category:Born in 1982 Category:Los Angeles Kings draft picks Category:Los Angeles Kings players Category:National Hockey League first round draft picks Category:2006 Olympian Category:Olympic ice hockey players of Russia Category:CSKA Moscow player Category:Krylia Sovetov player Category:Russian hockey players Category:Dynamo Moscow player Category:Lokomotiv Yaroslavl player